The Desire for Beauty – Or is Calligraphy Even More?

Thinking about my post, ‘Why Calligraphy, Why Now?’ I’m wondering if what I wrote might have been over-simplified.  Sure, most of us have a desire at some time to create a thing of beauty with our own hands, but there might be even more involved.  Why choose calligraphy over other art forms?

I’ve been an artist all my life.  I knew at the age of 4 that I was an artist, after creating my first mural!  Unfortunately, my creation took place on my parent’s bedroom wall, and I used my Dad’s oil paints which were conveniently located near a large portrait he was painting for a commission.  At least I had the sense not to paint on the canvas!

When my transgression was discovered, my Mom was horrified (we were living in the married student housing on the WSU campus while my Dad worked on his master’s degree).  But my Dad asked why I had painted on the wall, and when I sniffled that I couldn’t resist the paints and there was nothing to paint on except the wall, he left and was gone for a long time.  I thought I was in big trouble!

Meanwhile, I was set to work cleaning the wall.  (I’m pretty sure that the early exposure to all that solvent started my descent into the madness that is art).

When my Dad finally reappeared, he brought me real art supplies of my very own, along with a huge roll of paper that I could roll out on the floor for my masterpieces!

For many years I happily drew and painted without knowing anything about calligraphy, until I was accidentally introduced by my high school art teacher.  We were doing a unit on lettering, and everyone in the class had to produce a poster or broadside as a project.  We were given several styles of lettering to try to reproduce, along with rudimentary instruction in using paints, inks, brushes and pens.

For me, this was a real ‘Aha!’ moment.  I felt that a missing piece had fallen into place.  Now my words had the same potential for beauty and expression as my other artworks, and I remain eternally grateful to the teacher who not only introduced me to the art of the letter, but spent many hours of her own time tutoring me.

Many, many years later I had my first opportunity to take classes from ‘real calligraphers’, and I discovered that I had already been well and truly taught!

For me, calligraphy is a ‘bridge’ art form.  Psychologists tell us that most art is created in the right hemisphere of the brain, the part that is wholistic and creative, while words and sentences come from the left hemisphere of the brain, the part that is responsible for speech, logic and math.  Calligraphy seems to bridge the gap between the two sides of the brain, as does music.

Just try doing calligraphy using  your right brain only – it might be beautiful, but I’ll bet you just forgot how to spell and string words together in coherent sentences!

Similarly, practicing calligraphy using your left brain only might produce a perfectly lettered page without a soul.

But when both parts of the brain are united in your calligraphic work, what a wonderful thing takes place; a unity of thought and creativity unsurpassed by other visual art forms.

So now you know a bit about my roundabout journey to calligraphy, as well as some of my philosophy regarding this singular art form.  I’d love to be able to hear some of your stories, and share them with other readers.  Why and how did you choose calligraphy?  Or perhaps calligraphy chose you!